Pluto Saga Short: Chomper's Mission
This is a short story that will follow Chomper's journey as he tries to not only win the affection of the Moomins' new dominant female, but to hopefully beat Gianni for Rhyne's paw. Will he succeed or does this kid still need some lessons? Meerkats123 is my fateful co-writer as always. Day 1 of Chomper's Mission Chomper is up before the dawn, looking around the unfamiliar burrow area before he drags himself out, then sits and nurses an injured paw. Chomper is one of the few males that has been accepted into a group that already has unrelated males in it. But Chomper has a mission and he hopes to use this group as a way to achieve his true goal. The second meerkat to surface is Cash, she's not the dominant female, though at one time she was a meerkat princess of sorts. Cash's mother had been Hemulen, one of the oldest daughters of Grumpy who had taken dominance from the aging meerkat some time after Iloe had been born. Hemulen's reign had been cut sort however and dominance passed to other females. She might not be a princess, but Cash would like to be a queen one day, she's one of Iloe's biggest rivals. Cash and Chomper don't give each other a second glance, they might be somewhat brother and sister-in-law, but neither really has any use to the other. The next meerkats up are Cash's three daughters; Beauty, Cutie, and Blix. They are teenagers and have stuck together since birth, the three girls eye Chomper but then ignore him. The rest of the Moomins surface and either sun or work on the burrow. Muka is sticking to Iloe's side like glue, snapping at any of the other males who gets too close. He's even more wary of Chomper, but focusing on just the newbie could leave an opening for the other males who had been part of his roving party. He's too smart to spread himself thin. But sticking to Iloe's side isn't necessarily a full proof method either. She's already somewhat tired of his insecurity and that could lead to trouble. But Muka must choose the lessor of two evils. That's a hard choice to make. But the Moomins are distracted, a mysterious meerkat is approaching the group...a female, from the ticks on her face, it's obvious that she's been alone for a long while with no real company to assist her. Iloe is wary. She's in a tricky position since she hasn't produced a successful litter yet, her last two pups had either be killed or were stillborn, Cash's pregnancy is tightening the noose already and the last thing that Iloe needs is another rival...but on the other paw the group could use another babysitter, there is only really three females to raise the pups; Iloe, Cash, and Lydia. Cash's daughters are much too young to be of much use and most of the other females died early on...Both Muka and Iloe find themselves in a difficult place. Sheila is submissive as they moves closer. She's plump and clumsy, but she can fight and she wants to have some kind of group. She rolls onto her side and waits. For a while there is no action...finally Iloe cracks, but Sheila is on probation, one wrong move could see her out in the cold. Chomper is the first member to meet the newbie, and he's...torn. Iloe might be his intended target, but Sheila...is quite fine. Muka is quick to discipline Chomper, as well as the other males who are drawn by yet another unrelated female. The Moomins trek out shortly after, all the while Chomper alternating between watching Iloe and watching Sheila. The new female is foraging at the edge of the group, not trusted enough to be allowed to forage in closer. Iloe is in the center with Muka close by. But when he looks up one time, Chomper is startled to see that Muka isn't watching Iloe...he's watching Sheila. Could the dominant male be thinking of another female? Day 2 of Chomper's Mission Simple to say, Chomper doesn't know what to think. Muka has been mate guarding Iloe less, even if he has kept the other males in line, it seems like the dominant male has something else...or somebody else on his mind. For Chomper that is an opportunity...the bad news is that it seems that Muka is having feelings for Sheila, the newest member of the Moomins, who Chomper also likes a lot. If Iloe is aware of the situation, then she's not paying attention. The matter of frustration could be easily solved if she would just mate, but Iloe has been rejecting all advances...it's odd for a dominant. When the group goes foraging today, some drama is about to unfold. Sheila is not only finding herself being pursued by most of the males, she's finding herself as being the target of Cash's pregnancy aggression. The idea of making another meerkat, though larger, meek is empowering, but Cash knows better than to push Iloe's tolerance too far...she carries some scars from the dominant's rare displays of temper. After having her food snatched for the third time, Sheila has enough and settles for foraging alone, at least Cash can find another victim to steal from. Chomper has been cleaning a millipede close by and he spots Sheila moving off on her own, but soon he spies another shape following her and one glance towards Iloe has him stunned. Muka. Chomper abandons his catch, not caring if Arty snatches it, he won't let Muka get this shot. = Sheila is foraging, but finds herself being stared down by two potential suitors. One being Chomper, the other...the dominant male. She's uncertain and would much rather avoid an event that could make Iloe furious. Muka eyes Chomper coolly then walks straight up to Sheila, the other male is younger, thus Muka believes that Chomper will chicken out...but Chomper is not going to back down this time. Chomper is furious and with adrenaline rushing through his body, he unleashes his furey onto the oldyr male. Shelia wisely moves away. She joins the other females, who watch with interest. Muka just lays there shocked by Chomper's sudden burst of anger. Iloe is impressed by the male, the look on her face suddenly makes Muka mad and the meerkat is back on his feet in a heartbeat before he attacks Chomper, this time not in warning. The other males hesitate before they join in the fight. Chomper is caught off ground and struggles to get away from the infuriated dominant, but Muka isn't going to let him off easily. Chomper runs off suddenly with the dominant male on his heels. Not only does he have a bloody tail base, but part of his tail has been ripped off during the fight. Muka turns and asserts himself over the other males, then goes over to his lady. He ignores Sheila and focuses on his mate who grooms him back. But, everything is not as it seems. Muka has shown weakness by allowing Chomper to challenge him. Everyone but Iloe seem uneasy after the ordeal. Heavily pregnant Cash appeared to be nervous and edgy, she's avoiding Iloe whenever she can. Sheila keeps a low profile, afraid that the dominant female will punish her for causing a fight...it's too risky for her to stay. The Moomins female might be laid back, but even a normally calm meerkat can snap when her group's stableness comes into play. Sheila waits until the other meerkats are distracted before she sneaks off and goes looking for Chomper. = Chomper is huddled in a distant bolt hole, bruised, bleeding, and miserable. He should be glad that he had stood up to a dominant male, but he wasn't expecting how fast Muka would snap and how quick the other males would come to assist him. Chomper has had his first strike...it's a blessing that Muka didn't kill him. The sound of paws makes the young male look up, tense. He's expecting Muka to return to give him another beating, or maybe one of other boys coming for some action. But nope, it's just Sheila. The female is taking a risk by being with a male on the dominant's bad side, but she doesn't care and Chomper doesn't either. Day 3 of Chomper's Mission Chomper is wary as he helps to clear out the burrow. Muka is ignoring him, but only because he had given him a good beating yesterday. The dominant male is still angry about Chomper's moment of glory, but not enough to permanently evict him. Iloe is sitting beside her mate, grooming him while he is on lookout. It seems that Muka's aggression had managed to win her affection and they had mated, which now meant that Iloe was expecting her first litter. Sheila is also keeping a low profile, she is pregnant too...with Chomper's pups. Their night in the burrow had taken a romantic turn and now Sheila was being submissive. She didn't want to lose her pups or her place in the group. Sheila isn't the only meerkat fearing for her pups. Cash is almost ready to give birth, her belly looking ready to burst at any moment. Having two pregnant females spells trouble before one or both could kill the pups, a fate that Petrie would never know. While Sheila keeps away, Cash grovels before the matriarch, trying to make Iloe be lenient. Cash needs a few more good meals to nurture her unborn pups before they arrive. She may be in luck. Iloe has brought the group to a fresh nest of tortis eggs ready for eating. Muka, Iloe, Cash, Chomper and Shelia crowd it, trying to grab the largest eggs. The dominant pair quickly beat back the competition, satisfied, the pair settle down for their meal leaving some disappointed meerkats. Lydia is a sneaky meerkat and she bids her time before running in and makes off with an egg which she eats a little ways from the group, blocking both Chomper, Arty, and Cash when they tried to get it. While the adults are fighting, the three teenagers are keeping a look out...or Cutie is trying too. She's found a good vantage point...on a rather unsteady perch. The bush shakes in the wind and the meerkat finds her struggling to keep her balance then keep a lookout. But she is the first to notice him, a young male meerkat is watching the group from the shadows. Not just any male, but Petrie, Chomper's littermate. Cash is too busy esy eating an egg she snuck for herself to notice Petrie. Chomper has picked up his scent tries to encourage Petrie to come closer, but he won't venture beyond the fringes. The poor meerkat can only watch his brother, but he is smart enough to not want to risk going to close. Chomper can only watch as his brother vanishes into the desert. = Even after three weeks, Chomper has found that he can't stop thinking of his brother. Shelia has tried to distract him, but with little luck. Chomper watches as four pups play. Two are his, while the other two belong to Iloe. Cash is babysitting with Chomper, but she is equally unhappy. Cash lost her pups, not to the other pregnant females, but because Iloe had moved burrows, far enough that Cash couldn't even save one pup. Lonnie distracts Chomper by pulling on the older meerkat's ear. Rikku, Lonnie's daughter, is chasing Shelia's two boys, Big Bluffer and Thunder Pants around Cash. Despite the emotions surrounding the babysitters, all is well...until Cash spots something that causes concern. A strange meerkat has appeared, and soon more begin to appear. All are strangers instead of known rivals, and they are here because they've recently lost their one-square mile territory due to lack of enough resources. The dominant pair, Maisy and Tom, had tried stalling, but upon losing almost except for one pup belonging to Maisy's sister, Lizzy, the mob has led a nomadic existence. They've ended up running into the Moomins' babysitting burrow and now are making a choice. Cash and Chomper immediately move the pups belowground, knowing that a rival group is trouble. Even if there is only a few meerkats; Maisy, Tom, Lizzy, Firestorm and Nightshade, Viktor, and pup Lolly. But there's enough adults to overpower the sitters if they wanted too. But Maisy knows that this is taking chances. Even if they took over the burrow, the Moomins would just return and kick them out and of course there's Lolly to worry about. The small family of meerkats decide to move on, not wanting to risk a confrontation that they might not be able to win. But Chomper surfaces and is watching the retreating group, the gears in his mind are spinning rapidly and suddenly the young male gets up and runs after the small group, leaving a very confused Cash to watch him vanish into the scrub. Day 4 of Chomper's Mission It's a new day, and Chomper now finds himself as part of a new group. Unlike with the Moomins, joining this group had been fairly easy. Though dominant male Grim and unrelated male, Viktor, are both large males. Chomper has been trying to make himself friendly with Ruby and her daughters, but Grim has been watching closely. But the dominant male views Viktor to be more of a threat than Chomper, which might make the odds more even for Chomper. Right now, Chomper would much rather be getting cozy with the girls, but he has to prove himself first. Sentry and babysitting duties aren't fun at all. Not only is he being stuck with the boring task of guard duty, but it seems that only the dominant female and her sister are interested in the new boy. Nightshade has no interest in males while Firestorm seems to have interest only in Viktor. Two females are better than none at all. And Maisy's interest is the only one that is of any importance to Chomper. His sentry duties are about to pay off. He's spotted a hawk over head. He sounds the alarm. The group immediately takes off for the nearest bolt hole, but ends up splitting in two different directions. Chomper ends up finding himself sharing a bolt hole with Grim and Viktor, in Chomper's opinion, he probably would prefer other company. But it is not safe for him to relocate, unless he happens to have a death wish. After a long while, Grim pokes his head out from the bolt hole. After looking in all ways, as well as up and down, the dominant male sounds the all clear. Viktor and Chomper follow him out and the three males take a moment in order to regain their composure. It doesn't take long for the males to become worried. Ruby and the girls haven't shown up since their dash to safety, and an investigation of the nearest bolt hole turns out to be empty. Grim clambers to the top of a bush, and lets out a series of contact calls. If the females are close by, then the calls will serve as a beacon. Both Viktor and Chomper are quick to add their own calls. Tensely, the males wait and soon there is a good sign. Maisy soon appears from some bushes, completely unharmed. But yet she is alone. The males walk up to sniff her and look her over. Maisy checks out okay, but there is a problem. The other females and younger males are missing as well as Maisy' youngest litter. The males look to their dominant female for an answer.